Friends abduct man for Rs 1.5 lakh ransom, held

JAIPUR: Two men were arrested by the city police on Sunday for allegedly kidnapping their 23-year-old friend and attempting to extort a ransom of Rs 1.50 lakh from his family. Police rescued the victim.
Officials at Karni Vihar police station said the need for money to continue online gaming was the motive behind the abduction. The accused were identified as Bhagirath Singh Choudhary, 33, and Nand Kishore, 27.
The victim, Rahul Prajapat, was rescued following a focused police operation. SHO Likhma Ram confirmed that Choudhary and Prajapat were acquaintances. Choudhary and his accomplices had abducted Prajapat from the busy Gandhi Path area on Wednesday and taken him to Bundi, he said.
Investigations revealed that the accused had already extorted Rs 20,000 from Prajapat but aimed to make his family fork out Rs 1.50 lakh as ransom. During the investigation, police discovered that Choudhary’s addiction to online games, particularly those involving financial transactions, drove him to plan the abduction. During interrogation, Choudhary admitted to being in dire need of funds to sustain his online gaming addiction.